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The Fatal Flaw of 911

themarshallproject.org35 points48 comments
Screenshot of The Fatal Flaw of 911

Commenters debated the limits of 911’s tech and routing. Some argued modern cell calls provide GPS location and OS vendors can override location settings during Emergency SOS (BenjiWiebe, ba1afd89f34cb23), while others reported real-world gaps - Bay Area CHP allegedly lacking cell-location info and smaller counties still being behind (m-ee, mixdup). Several suggested alternative numbers or systems (311 for non-emergencies, EU 112) and technical upgrades like ESINet/SIP stacks to improve dispatching (Animats, gambiting, posperson, ACS_Solver).

People sharply diverged on police as default responders to mental-health and “non-crime” calls. One camp defended police presence for safety and capacity reasons, noting there are simply more officers than paramedics and police can handle unpredictable escalations (Georgelemental, pc86, mixdup). The other camp warned police often escalate situations and are trained toward force, arguing for specialized, de‑escalation-focused responders and better training instead of armed officers (danaris, weakfish, NoMoreNicksLeft). Several commenters framed the barrier as political and budgetary - special programs are underfunded or resisted by police unions, and structural issues like small, fragmented forces and Baumol‑style cost pressures shape outcomes (doctorpangloss, paimapi, boredatoms, spenrose).

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